


You Should Be Dancing

by Lady Divine (fhartz91)



Series: Outside Edge [61]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blaine Friendly, Established Relationship, Ice Skating, M/M, Pride, Teen Angst, figure skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 14:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19703722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fhartz91/pseuds/Lady%20Divine
Summary: Kurt gives Blaine his newly decorated skates, along with some words of encouragement....And Sebastian's there, too.





	You Should Be Dancing

**Author's Note:**

> A follow up to 'Pride'

_Knock-knock-knock_

“Blaine? Honey? Can I come in?”

Blaine looks up from his scrapbook to the door, open a jar, with Kurt’s hand curled around the edge. He smiles, happy to see his best friend no matter what, but it’s hard for him to push away the melancholy he’s spent the past few hours wrapping himself in. The scrapbook in front of him is filled with pictures from his past, mainly competitions and shows he participated in at his old rink. Back then, he felt these pages were filled with evidence of a life well-lived. As long as he practiced and trained pretty much every waking moment, he was working towards a goal. Even if he didn’t get _everything_ he wanted out of life that would be okay, because he’d have all this to look back on.

Genuine accomplishment.

But now he sees it for what it was.

One big, continuous performance.

He closes the book. Kurt hasn’t seen it yet. It’s too painful to look through by himself. He doesn’t know how excruciating it would be to open up this wound to someone else’s eyes, even someone as selfless and compassionate as Kurt.

“Sure,” he says, summoning his friend in. “Of course. What’s up?”

“Aren’t you coming to Pride night at the rink?” Kurt walks in, carrying a black satin pouch that he puts at the foot of the bed before he sits. “We’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.”

“You know …” Blaine busies himself flattening down the cover of his scrapbook so he doesn’t have to look Kurt in the eyes “… I think I might just stay here, if it’s all the same to you guys.”

“It won’t be the same without you,” Kurt says, knocking Blaine’s shoulder with his own.

“I appreciate that. It’s just I … well, I kind of imagine it’s more of a couples’ thing.”

“When I first met you at LGBTQ night at that rink in Columbus, you were going stag.”

“I know, but … being single … I think I feel it a little more now than I did back then. I had more hope about the way things would turn out, if that makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Kurt puts a hand over Blaine’s and squeezes. “It does. But if you come with us, you won’t technically be single. We’ll be a threesome.”

“Do you have to put it like _that_?” Sebastian’s disembodied voice groans from the hallway.

“That LGBT night at the Columbus rink,” Blaine continues, though he may have snorted at Sebastian’s remark, “it was an ongoing, once-a-month thing. But this is _Pride_. It feels like such a bigger deal.”

“I agree. 100 percent. And that’s why you should come! Westerville Ice-plex has never hosted anything for Pride. Not officially, anyway. It’s a turning point. They’re not just supporting us within the confines of their walls anymore. They’re letting everyone know. They’re saying it, in no uncertain terms. And _you_ played a part in that.”

Blaine shrugs. “Not a big part.”

“Bigger than you think.”

“Still, you guys have been there the longest. You’ve put in all the time. No one deserves to be there more than you.”

Kurt tilts his head, watching his best friend run a finger down the spine of his book. “Do you think … you don’t deserve to be there?”

Blaine’s head begins to shake subconsciously even before he answers. “I think … maybe not?”

“Why?”

“Because I spent so much time pretending I was something I’m not. Seeing you and Sebastian, and the way you are together all the time, anywhere you go … it makes me feel like a coward for not putting myself out there sooner.”

“There’s no shame in being in the closet, Blaine,” Kurt says gently. “For a lot of people, it’s a survival mechanism.” He’s close to pointing out that if Blaine hadn’t stayed in the closet for so long, his father would have tossed him out sooner, maybe given him worse than one black eye. And without Sebastian to lend him a hand, where would he be right now? But it seems too cruel, especially considering how much Blaine has gone through to try and forget.

None of which worked the way Kurt had hoped.

“I’ve been leading two lives for so long, I had myself completely convinced that I was pulling it off. I thought I could split my personality down the middle – be the perfect son for my mom and dad, and also be myself, and I would never have to confront the issue. I’d be safe, and I’d never have to hurt anyone. But more and more, the two me’s started to bleed into each other, and it became so much harder to hide.” Blaine hangs his head, lifting the book off the bed and hugging it in his arms. “I miss my old life, but only because it had my parents in it. And my coach. And as much as I appreciate everything you and Sebastian have done for me, sometimes I feel like I did something wrong.”

“Blaine! You did _nothing_ wrong!”

“If I did nothing wrong, why did my family turn their backs on me? Why couldn’t they just accept me for who I am? Why couldn’t they support what makes me happy?”

“Because there’s something wrong with _them_ , Blaine! Their way of thinking is flawed! It’s not you! And hopefully, someday, they’ll realize their mistake, and they’ll apologize. But you’re forgetting one thing about family.”

“Yeah?” Blaine sniffles. “What’s that?”

“Family isn’t only the people you’re born into. Sometimes it’s the people you choose. You _have_ a family. You’re a part of _our_ family. _We_ love you – me and Sebastian, my folks, everyone down at the rink ...”

Blaine lifts his eyes, smiling mischievously through bittersweet tears. “ _Sebastian_ loves me?”

“Of course, he does! Right, Sebastian?”

Both boys turn their attentions toward the door, but nothing happens. Sebastian doesn’t march in on cue, declaring his undying love in the bonds of brotherhood, as Kurt had hoped. What they do hear is a heavy sigh, one long enough and pained enough to earn its own origin story. “Al _right_! Yeah. Okay. I love you, Blaine.”

“Do you really?” Blaine sings.

Another heavy sigh, but followed by a sincere, “Yes, I do. And I want you to come with us _if we don’t call it a threesome_. Can we go now, please? If we don’t get there before Coach Beiste, she’s gonna get in the DJ’s cage and play all sorts of old lady Country Western music, and we’ll never get her out!”

“What do you say, Blaine?” Kurt puts an arm around his friend’s shoulders and holds him close. “You coming with us?”

Blaine nods, leaning into Kurt’s hug to make it last longer. “Alright, I’ll go. But what in the world am I going to wear?” he jokes, primly wiping underneath his eyes with his forefingers and shaking his curls out of his face.

“I can help you with that. But if you need an accessory to build around, maybe you can start with these.” Kurt grabs the satin bag from the foot of the bed and opens it. Blaine watches closely as Kurt pulls out a pair of black Edea skates – _his_ skates - with crystal rainbows adorning the outsides.

“I was wondering where those went.” Blaine chuckles softly, setting aside his scrapbook and picking up one skate to examine it. He holds it up so the light reflects every color. “These look … _amazing_! Did you do this yourself?”

“Yes, I did. Because I love you. Because I believe in you. Look ...” Kurt turns to Blaine, resting both hands on his knees “… I’m not trying to pressure you. That’s not why I’m here. When you come out, where you come out, how you come out and how often - the decision is yours. And I know it’s not easy. But you’re not alone. And together or apart, we will always support you, no matter what.”

“No matter what,” Sebastian echoes, finally making his way through the door and onto the bed with Kurt and Blaine. He doesn’t immediately gather Kurt in his arms in that possessive way he does, just positions himself among them – three equal people, all on the same side. Blaine looks at Sebastian, who gives him one of his signature winks, then at Kurt, beaming with the same warmth his mother often does when Blaine goes over to the Hummel house for a visit. It pulls at Blaine’s heart to see them looking at him this way, with so much acceptance and pride.

Had his own parents been able to look at him this same way, _half_ of this same way, as this boy he met barely a year ago and his boyfriend who hated him from go ...

If they’d had it in them, everything now might be so much different.

Blaine won’t go through life expecting things to change, but it’s definitely something to hope for.

“Alright.” He nods, grabbing his newly decorated skates and shimmying off the bed, leaving his scrapbook behind. “Let’s go.”

“Really?” Kurt says.

“Yeah. I’m ready. Let’s get our party on!”

“Thank _God_!” Sebastian says, rolling off the bed. “Let’s grab some burgers on the way. I’m stahr-ving!”

“Wha---Blaine, didn’t you want to change first?”

“Don’t have to. You know what they say about any outfit …” Blaine grabs his peacoat, heading Sebastian off on his way out the door. “It’s all about the shoes.”


End file.
